"If it was down to me, I would stay in Barcelona all my life"

After his return from a loan deal from Real Betis, the Barcelona youngster desires to stay at the club for the rest of his life.

It is a dream of every footballer to play at Camp Nou once in their lifetime. And surely is for Barcelona star Carles Alena, who expressed his eagerness to stay at the club. He has been linked to Real Betis for quite some time now. But, the Spain international desires to stay at the Catalunya capital for his entire life.

Ever since progressing from the Barca academy in 2016, Alena has made 41 senior appearances. However, it has been a struggle for the Spanish left-footer to fix his spot in the Barcelona roster. Plus, he was sent to Betis on a loan for the second half of the 2019-20 season.

In fact, during his six-month spell at Benito Villamarin Stadium, Alena managed to impress his bosses. And right after his return to Barcelona, he has been trying to find a way into Ronald Koeman’s tactics. Nevertheless, the midfielder has not yet played a single game for Barca in La Liga. Additionally, Carles is hugely linked to make a permanent move to Betis in early next year.

Carles Aleñá succesfully completed 106 out of his 107 attempted passes against Dynamo Kyiv yesterday, an accuracy of 99.1%. 🤯 [fcb] pic.twitter.com/GK1TsdvfNu
— Luis Llorente (@_Sportify) November 25, 2020

That is what he wants.

The 22-year-old remained on the sidelines during Barcelona’s defeat to Atletico Madrid last weekend. But it was a surprise to see him start in the Champions League game on Tuesday evening. Nonetheless, he intends to stay at the club and fight for his place in the team amid links to Betis.

“My idea is to remain here,” Alena told reporters when quizzed on his future. “I feel physically well. I want to stay, if it was down to me, I would stay here all my life. The only path is to work and push hard in training. I gradually feel better.”

“I’ve returned to feel like a footballer, playing 90 minutes. I think I’ve made the most of the opportunity given to me. With the work I do and what I do in training, little by little, I’m starting to feel like a footballer again. You can’t stop working because this is Barca, the best team in the world. The demand here is the highest because the best in the world are here.”

📰 — Carles Aleñá boasted his talent on the pitch last night against Kyiv. The youngster played as a pivot, and was very active, focused and dominant with the ball. He also distributed very well and tried to give the team depth. [sport] pic.twitter.com/cUCE277yjH
— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) November 25, 2020